


To Love You

by Sachi_Grace



Series: Starlit Love [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Momoharu Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23986990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sachi_Grace/pseuds/Sachi_Grace
Summary: Day 1: Yearning/ConfessionKaito just wants Maki to be happy and to have friends to surround her in her life, but he's just not sure if he could include himself in that as something more.
Relationships: Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito
Series: Starlit Love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731013
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	To Love You

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you momoharu week 2020 for hosting this event! I'm super excited to be apart of a brand new ship. I haven't written Maki or Kaito before, so this is going to be a stretch in the creativity muscle for me. I'm super excited to share you guys my practice pieces. Thank you to sunflower_8 for beta-reading this for me. I always appreciate your insight on the different ships that I'm attempting to do.
> 
> As always I appreciate your support.

Kaito watched as his two sidekicks were talking on the other side of the classroom during lunch period. Everyone else had scattered into their usual groups, and the different conversations blended together made a white noise that drowned out whatever the two quiet ones were talking about. He noticed that Maki and Shuichi were looking grim around the faces too. Shuichi actively was pulling his hat over his eyes as he was speaking, though Kaito did see that he was attempting to make eye contact with Maki. Which of course meant that he was improving! If just a bit slightly. Maki was also deep in the conversation, pulling on her pig tail with her cheeks puffed up and a cute pout on her lips. That was also a huge improvement too! His sidekicks were working hard at trying to improve and communicate with each other and Kaito couldn’t be more pleased.

He understood that the rest of their classmates couldn’t begin to understand them, and no one really wanted to try to get underneath Maki’s layers too much. They all saw what happened to Kokichi when he outed her on the second day of school when he broke into the teacher’s lounge. It hadn’t been a very cool thing for the rascal to do, but it helped Kaito understand who Maki was and the situation only renewed his determination in trying to make sure both her and Shuichi stopped trying to put up so many guards. Maki had so many different walls that needed to be broken down. For as someone as honest and caring as she was, she was careful to make sure that her honesty was cold and her caring was superficial at best. It took a long time for her to open up about the orphanage, about her life, about how she lived. Shuichi had more information on her than Kaito did, but that was because Shuichi was an awesome detective and dug for his own information. Even if Shuichi called it “selling secrets for money”, it was more than just that. It was about revealing who people were genuinely underneath and he could say without a doubt that if Shuichi was friends with Maki then she really wasn’t all that bad.

She wasn’t all that bad. She had a dry sense of humor. She had a way of smiling without smiling. If you knew her tone of voice just right, it was easy to determine a fond “you’re an idiot” and a deadly “do you want to die”. Maybe it was just him though. Maybe he was one of the few that actually paid attention to the small things like that. Or maybe it was because of Maki that he paid attention. He wondered how many people knew that her tugging on her hair was more than just a nervous tick. She did it when she was embarrassed or annoyed to the fifth level. He wondered how many of his classmates understood that when Maki told them it “was whatever”, she was actually feeling a little hurt by whatever comment or story she was forced to partake in.

It was hard to discern what her feelings were to him though. Kaito knew that he was an idiot to her, impulsive and brash. He also knew from her own words that he was enthusiastic. He just...couldn’t tell exactly if she liked him as a friend, liked him as a brother, or if she felt the same way and thought that he was cool the same way he thought she was cool. 

That being said though their conversation was going for a long time, and both parties were looking as though they didn’t want to be discussing what they were discussing and yet had to do so anyway. Kaito momentarily thought about getting into the middle of it before things got too rough, but he also had to remind himself that they were communicating and it would be rude to just jump in just because he thought they needed it. Chances were, they were talking about something that was extremely important to the both of them. It kind of hurt that they weren’t talking to  _ him _ , but he shoved that down. It was important that they learned to rely one each other and grow closer together as friends! He was grateful that Shuichi was opening up the way that he was, and it was important for Maki to be exposed to good things rather than all the bad the orphanage and the cult put her through.

“You’re worried too?”

Kaito looked over to see Kaede standing next to him, looking over at the two who were still in deep conversation. “Nah, they got it! They’re my sidekicks! Whatever problem they're talking about, I know they can solve it together and if they need my help they know I’m here ready to listen.” Kaito gave Kaede a thumbs up. “I just don’t like that Shuichi’s doing the turtle thing again though. I thought we got over that…”

Kaede giggled. “You mean him looking like he wants to hide underneath the table? I wonder what it is that Maki’s trying to talk to him about. I mean, I know it’s easy to embarrass him, but...Maki doesn’t usually poke fun like that, does she?”

Kaito wasn’t sure. Shuichi and Maki were on two whole other wavelengths that Kaito couldn’t grasp and honestly didn’t want to. That was their space and he wanted them to have that. It...did make him a little nervous though. Maki was a cool girl, and Shuichi had more of a head on his shoulders than he did ninety percent of the time. It...wouldn’t be all that surprising really if this conversation was about relationships and feelings though…

He would’ve thought Shuichi had eyes on Kaede, if the red cheeks were anything to go by when they spoke about their classmates.

Did he misunderstand or was he right on the money? He’d have to ask after this was over. “Whatever it is, it seems serious. So we should be ready to support no matter what!” Kaito told Kaede, punching his fists together across his chest, a grim determination set on his features. “They’re probably trying to figure out how to talk to us about whatever it is that’s bothering them. We gotta keep our shoulders straight if we want to do anything.”

“Wait, when did I get into this?” Kaede asked, looking a little taken aback. Then she thought about it, “Well, no, you’re right. I talk to Shuichi sometimes and Maki...and whatever it is that they’re concerned about should be something that we should be worried about too...but...I wonder if it’s that kind of serious conversation.”

“Hm? What do you mean?” Kaito asked, putting his hands down.

“It’s just...I’m not good at reading body language like Shuichi is, but...they don’t look like they’re afraid or concerned. It’s more...like they’re uncomfortable.” Kaede explained. “So whatever this conversation is it looks like it’s not something that’s easy to discuss.”

“You think so, huh?” Kaito turned back to look over at his sidekicks and made a mental note to check in on them and maybe get them outdoors for late night training. Whatever it is that was bothering them surely could be pushed back with a distraction. Shuichi worked better when his brain was focused on something other than his failures, and…he wasn’t sure if Maki was getting anything out of their training sessions besides the company. That wasn’t bad of course, he wanted to see her flourish with more people around. He wanted to see her smile more. He wanted her to have friends and be able to rely on others besides just herself. It was good to see her getting out of her shell for sure and he wanted to continue to support that! She didn’t deserve to feel like she was an outcast just because she had a talent that involved other people getting hurt. It wasn’t her fault that was the way life went. Now it was just about fixing what went wrong. 

X

“You’re not subtle.” Maki approached Kaito at the end of the day being the last two that were finishing up with the cleaning duties for the classroom. Kaito tilted his head slightly and she continued. “You and Kaede were both staring at Shuichi and me through lunch. What? Did we have something on our faces or something?”

“Just worried about you Maki Roll.” Kaito grinned at her. “You two looked like you were talking about something serious. Is everything okay? You can rely on me too you know.”

Maki fell silent. Sometimes, Kaito wondered if she believed anything that he said. She poked at his enthusiasm and optimism more than a few times, but he knew better than to take it personally. It was hard for people to accept genuine things sometimes, and Maki didn’t exactly have any examples of that. At least, none that he knew of. “We were talking about him and Kaede.” Maki finally said after a moment. “As well as about the orphanage.”

“Shuichi is still determined to look into that huh?” Kaito mused thoughtfully. “I suppose he can’t help the curiosity, but I don’t want him to get too badly hurt.”

Maki didn’t say anything for a moment. He knew that she was agreeing with them though. Shuichi’s determination was wonderful; it was his naivety sometimes that worried them both. Not that Kaito was much better. His impulse control has been a source of plenty of Maki’s wrath and Shuichi’s panic. “It’s whatever.” She said after a moment. “I can’t stop him. He’s not going after the assassin part, so I’m grateful for that. I told him before the world needs us, and he could reduce the chances of us being used to the point where I don’t have to be one.”

“Knowing Shuichi, he’d do that and beyond! My sidekicks are just amazing, you know that? You both are trying so hard to make life better in any way that you see fit!” Kaito assured her. “I’m proud of you both!”

Maki stared at him for a moment, “I don’t think being an assassin would make anyone’s life  _ better. _ ” She stressed the last word and Kaito mentally winced at himself. Right idea, poor choice of words. “Though...I suppose there were some people that I got rid of that the world was better off without.”

“You also outlast us during training, you kick our asses everytime!” Kaito pointed out to her. There were more positives than what she was saying and he wanted her to understand that. “It sucks you had to go through it. But you can use those skills for the better now for sure.”

Maki just sighed softly, “An idiot as usual.” She murmured, but Kaito caught the small fond smile that was just right there on her lips. It was usually hard to see, and most people would mistake it as mockery. He understood it as her just acknowledging him in some way. Even if it sounded bad. 

“Wait what do you mean by that? Also you mentioned Kaede and Shuichi were having problems.” Kaito frowned deeply. “Do I need-”

“Stop.” Maki held a hand up before Kaito could go do…. _ something _ . Kaito felt himself freeze at her request, less out of fearful obedience, but more of concerned listening. It was important to get the full story before he went off, he knew that. “It wasn’t like that.” She shook her head. “Let him figure himself out. He had to deal with me today too.”

“Deal with you?” Kaito echoed back, feeling a little lost. 

“I’m not good with this.” Maki started to tug on her pigtail, her cheeks puffed in annoyance. Kaito knew that was mostly at herself. Emotions weren’t...something Maki allowed herself to show. She couldn’t let them show. It was detrimental to her job and Kaito knew that. Still he took a little pride in knowing that she was annoyed, and he took even more pride that she was showing it rather than keeping up a facade. It made communication easier...even if it was still unstable sometimes. “....we should get dinner.”

“It’s not nighttime yet,” Kaito blinked a little loss. “Are you still hungry? You and Shuichi didn’t eat much at lunch, I noticed. I should’ve stopped you guys from chatting an-”

“I’m asking you out.” Maki replied bluntly, her cheeks tinting pink. “Because I know you won’t.”

“.....Like a date?”

“Do you want to die?” Maki deadpanned, staring at him. “Yes. Like a date. Like I just said.” There was a beat and she took a small step back. “That expression is gross, what are you doing?”

Kaito was pretty sure that he was beaming brightly from ear to ear and he was also certain that if Tsumugi was around she’d proclaim that he had sparkles flying all over him. He took a step forward and grabbed her into a hug. “Of course! No, that’s awesome!” He let her go, looking at her sudden blank expression. She was shocked! Hopefully in a good way, otherwise Kaito wasn’t sure about how awkward the rest of the conversation was going to go. He should’ve thought about boundaries before he went off and hugged her. “I’ll be happy to go out with you! I mean, I thought I was going to confess first, but I guess I was dragging my feet too much. I’m sorry, that wasn’t very...manly of me, but yeah! For sure!”

“Idiot.” Maki replied fondly. “I don’t know where we could go...I didn’t think that far.”

“I’m fine with anything, Maki Roll. As long as you’re with me? I could eat anything.” Kaito beamed. “Tell you what, since you asked me out, let me handle the plans.”

“I...don’t think that’s how that’s supposed to work.” Maki blinked. “But I’m not going to stop you.”

Kaito grinned as he gave her a thumbs up. “Leave everything to me Maki Roll. Just get ready around seven or so.”

“Or so?” Maki echoed, but Kaito was already putting away his cleaning supplies and headed out of the classroom. He had a date to plan. 


End file.
